May 31, 2019 Why Do You Garden, Charles McIlvaine, Virginia Woolf, Martha Maxwell, Walt Whitman, This Compost, Photo Friday, Hosta Inventory, Calvin Lamborn and the invention of Sugar Snap Peas
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Monologue
Why do you garden?
This was a question posted in a Facebook group I belong to, and it received over 1,400 responses.
The most popular were:
- It's calming
- to bring beauty into my life
- to connect with nature
- healthy food
There's another benefit that many people often overlook: staying physically active.
If you check your Fitbit after spending time in your garden, you'll see it's a workout.
Botanical History On This Day
1840 Charles McIlvaine, Civil War captain, writer, and pioneering American mycologist, was born in Pennsylvania — later earning the unforgettable nickname “Old Iron Guts” for personally tasting hundreds of mushrooms in the name of science.
1920 Virginia Woolf, gardening alongside her husband Leonard, recorded one of her purest joys — a long day of weeding, gladioli standing “in troops,” and happiness measured in soil-stained fingernails.
1881 Martha Maxwell, naturalist, artist, and founder of modern taxidermy, died — a woman whose insistence on lifelike poses and natural settings forever changed how wildlife was displayed.
Unearthed Words
1819 Poet Walt Whitman was born on this day, later finding profound healing in fields, orchards, and open air. His words remind us that the earth transforms corruption into abundance.
Grow That Garden Library™
Read The Daily Gardener review of No One Gardens Alone: A Life of Elizabeth Lawrence by Emily Herring Wilson
Buy the book on Amazon: No One Gardens Alone: A Life of Elizabeth Lawrence by Emily Herring Wilson
Today's Botanic Spark
1979 Plant breeder Calvin Lamborn created the Sugar Snap Pea in Idaho — a sweet inheritance later tended by his son, Rod, who remembered his father’s quiet confidence: *“You got this.”*
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And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
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